Messenger Wars 2 How Facebook climbed back to #1 Source: Max Morse for TechCrunch, 2013 https://www.flickr.com/photos/techcrunch/9728625374/in/photolist-
Since our hugely popular Messenger Wars: How Facebook lost its lead report in 2013 (240k views) Facebook has regained its lead, grown in size and diversified.
Messenger wars in Developed Markets A survey of 2,500 Android and ios smartphone owners in the US, UK, Germany, Japan and China, carried out by mobile market research company On Device Research.
Top social messaging apps on smartphones Research data from the US, UK, Germany, Japan and China shows that Facebook Messenger is the top messaging app in US and UK UK 63% Facebook Messenger China 84% WeChat US 60% Facebook Messenger Germany 77% WhatsApp Japan 75% Line N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Facebook has regained its position as the leader of social messaging apps for our 5 markets Q: Which social messaging app do you use at least once a week? 31% 24% 18% 15% 14% 12% 12% Facebook Messenger WhatsApp Line WeChat QQ Twitter Skype N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Rhiannon Williams telegraph.co.uk
Facebook diversifies its portfolio Acquiring Instagram in April 2012 was only the beginning of Facebook s takeover of social media and messaging Aug 2014 Facebook removes Messenger and creates separate app Feb 2014 Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion
Separating Messenger has given Facebook a significant lead in the US Q: Which social messaging app do you use at least once a week? (by age group) 52% 58% Facebook Messenger 47% 56% 55% all the other apps! 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-55 Over 55 Facebook Messenger Kik Line Skype Snapchat Twitter Viber WhatsApp WeChat N=500,US smartphone owners
WhatsApp has declined from 2 nd to 4 th in the US N=500,US smartphone owners
8% of Americans use WhatsApp weekly. In 2013, it was 35%. N=500, US smartphone owners
Growth of alternative messengers 15% use Snapchat weekly and it is the 2 nd most used social messenger in the US Q: Which social messaging app do you use at least once a week? 16-24 32% Since our last report in 2013, Snapchat has grown from 30m to 200m users. Snapchat has also grown by 12%pt for 16-24 year olds since 2013. 25-34 9% 35+ 3% Snapchat in the US, Business Insider Jan 2015 N=500, US smartphone owners
GlobalWebIndex reports Snapchat is also the fastest growing social messenger app globally Social and messaging apps growth in the last six months Snapchat 56% Facebook Messenger 52% Line 44% Kik 40% WhatsApp 33% and Facebook is in close 2 nd! Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2014 N=170,000, 32 markets
Despite Facebook s global dominance, local apps prevail in Japan and China Q: Which social messaging app do you use at least once a week? US 53% UK 53% JP 74% CH 70% DE 36% CH 3% JP 10% US 5% CH 4% Facebook Messenger Line WeChat UK 3% DE 2% US 2% JP 2% UK 1% DE 1% N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Why do people use different apps? Network effect is still number one reason overall, but for Japan & China it s because of different features 52% 52% 46% 46% 43% 45% 36% 31% 21% 21% 18% 16% 12% 13% 7% 63% 57% 29% 28% 16% 16% 18% 15% 9% Global US China Japan UK Germany Different friends use different apps Because of different features It used to be free, it's not anymore One for people I don't know well, other for friends/family N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
China wants video messaging, calls, and stickers Q: How important are the following features in messaging apps to you? China values video messaging and video calls more than any other country. They also care significantly more about stickers! Japan most values ease of use and the ability to send photos. The biggest reason why they are not using a certain app is because they feel it s missing a feature I require. N=1000, Japan and China smartphone owners
Westerners desire greater security from apps Q: How important are the following features in messaging apps to you? Security is the most important feature overall for the US, UK, and Germany with an average 79% of respondents rating it most highly. The US thinks it s vital to be able to call through a messenger app. All countries value ease of use and the ability to send photos. N=1500, US, UK, and German smartphone owners
Source: cnet.com Apr 2014, Business Insider May 2013, pcworld.com Oct 2013.
Average number of messaging apps installed 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.8 3 China UK Germany USA Japan N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Both China and US have seen an increase in average number of messaging apps per person Average number of messaging apps installed US 2.1 2.3 China 2.4 3.0 2013 2015 N=1000, US and China smartphone owners
Contrasting communication patterns in Asia China prefers voice call and SMS, Japan favours email Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? 51% 61% 53% 24% Social messaging apps Voice calls SMS Email Daily 45% 37% 35% 47% Social messaging apps Voice calls SMS Email Daily N=1000, Japan and China smartphone owners Per country charts can be found in the annex at the end of the presentation.
Skype is comfortably #1 for video Skype s global popularity is well known. Our research shows that Skype is enjoying the top spot among our 5 countries researched, with decent market share even in Line-dominated Japan. Skype calls 300 million people users of its app. % of smartphone owners using weekly 45% 47% 49% 21% 21% US UK Germany China Japan N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Social media is pretty much dead and social messaging will take over Fred Wilson, Venture Capitalist (Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare) Source: Business Insider, Dec 2014.
Rohit Dadwal Campaign Asia Feb 2015
50 billion messages a day Shared via 6 services in 2014 = double the volume of SMS that were sent! imessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, BBM and WeChat Source: Deloitte 2014 https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/deloitte/au/documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-au-tmt-short-messaging-servicesversus-instant-messaging-011014.pdf
% of respondents Undefeated champion for communication Social messaging is most popular way to stay in touch in developed markets. Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? 64% Average of 5 countries 60% 55% 49% 34% 22% 8% 18% 29% 14% 24% 23% 9% 15% 21% 13% Social Messaging Voice calls SMS Email 10+ times a day 2-3 times/day Once a day At least once/day combined N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Want Excel tables with the survey data? Get in touch! On Device Research uses the mobile internet to gain access to consumer opinions at any time, place or country.
We have undertaken projects in 79 countries Over 25 million people have taken one of our surveys on their mobile
For more info: ondeviceresearch.com Poh Lin Carter-Lau pohlin@ondeviceresearch.com @pohlinlau Follow us:
Appendix
US and UK most similar for communication Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? 70% 63% 65% 63% 33% 18% 37% 22% Social messaging apps Voice calls SMS Email More than 10 times a day Daily 74% 66% 75% 58% 40% 42% 22% 18% Social messaging apps Voice calls SMS Email Source: On Device Research, November 2013 N=1406 in the US, n=544 in China, smartphone owners More than 10 times a day Daily
Contrasting communication patterns in Asia China prefers voice call and SMS, Japan favours email Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? 51% 61% 53% 23% 24% 15% 24% 7% Social messaging apps Voice calls SMS Email More than 10 times a day Daily 45% 37% 35% 47% 23% 5% 11% 13% Social messaging apps Voice calls SMS Email More than 10 times a day Daily N=1000, Japan and China smartphone owners Per country charts can be found in the annex at the end of the presentation.
Germans are Super Social Messengers Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? 81% of Germans use social messaging apps daily 54% use it at least 10x daily! N=500, Germany smartphone owners
Germans use social messaging almost twice as much as Japanese respondents Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? (Social messaging) 81% 74% 70% 52% 51% 45% 40% 33% 23% 23% Germany UK USA China Japan More than 10 times a day Daily N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
All ages in China are active social messenger users 4 3 2 1 2.1 2.6 2.0 1.8 3.2 3.1 2.9 3.0 2.5 2.3 2.9 3.0 2.8 2.3 2.4 2.2 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.1 Japan UK China USA Germany 16-24 25-34 35-44 45+ N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Top 3 social messaging apps on smartphones Research data from the US, UK, Germany, Japan and China UK China 63% 46% 36% 84% 83% 50% Facebook Messenger Whatsapp Skype Wechat QQ Sina Weibo Germany 77% US 60% 29% 25% Whatsapp 49% Facebook Messenger 30% Skype Japan 75% 42% 25% Facebook Messenger Skype Twitter Line Twitter Facebook Messenger N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Top 3 video call apps on smartphones Research data from the US, UK, Germany, Japan and China (excluding WeChat and QQ) UK China 47% 38% 33% 22% 21% 14% Skype Facetime Viber Facetime Line Skype US 45% 29% 21% Skype Facetime Google Hangouts Germany 49% 20% 16% Skype Facetime Google Hangouts Japan 60% 21% 21% Line Skype Facetime N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
In China and UK, nearly half use WhatsApp more than 6 months ago Q: Compared to 6 months ago, do you use WhatsApp Use WhatsApp more than 6 months ago 39% 46% 46% 40% 35% 35% 32% 22% About the same More Less China UK US Japan Germany N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Facebook Messenger is leading growth for Facebook portfolio Source: comscore via quartz.com
Different features will no longer drive use of multiple messenger apps. Q: Why do you use different messaging apps? 58% 52% 52% 36% Global 2013 Global 2015 Different friends use different apps Because of different features N=2500, US, UK, Germany, Japan and China smartphone owners
Low storage capacity = less apps installed Q: Why are you not using these messaging apps (one want to use but are currently not using)? In the US, respondents say that not having enough space on their phone is the number one reason why they re not using a messenger app With paying upfront for handset is common practice in the US many opt for lowest (and therefore cheapest) storage capacity available often 16GB with no expandable memory., Which 2014 N=500, US smartphone owners